DEATH

You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death , open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one , even as the river and the sea are one.
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For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

NOW

To have your attention in the Now is not a denial of what is needed in your life.It is recognising what is primary .then you can deal with what is secondary with great ease. It is not saying , "I'm not dealing with things anymore because there is only the Now". No. Find what is primary first and make the Now into your friend, not your enemy.Acknowledge it, honor it . When the Now is the foundation and primary focus of your life , then your life unfolds with ease.

This Moment

This one moment - Now - is the only thing you can never escape from, the one constant factor in your life.No matter what happens , no matter how much your life changes , one thing is certain ; it's always Now.
Since there is no excape from Now , why not welcome it, become friendly with it?
When you make friends with the present moment , you feel at home no matter where you are.When you don't feel at home in the Now , no matter where you go , you will carry unease with you.

seeking

The egoic self is always engaged in seeking.It is seeking more of this or that to add to itself, to make itself feel more complete.This explains the ego's compulsive preoccupation with future.

Whenever you become aware of yourself "living for the next moment" you have already stepped out pf that egoic mind pattern , and the possibility of choosing to give your full attention to this moment arises simultaneously.

By giving your full attention to this moment, an intelligence far greater than the egoic mind enters your life.

Need to oppose

Built into the very stucture of the egoic self is a need to oppose , resist , and exclude to maintain the sense of seperateness on which its continued survival depends.So there is "me" against the "other" , "us" against "them".

The Egoic Self

In your dealings with people , can you detect subtle feelings of either superiority or inferiority toward them?You are looking at ego , which lives through comparison.

Envy is a by-product of the ego, which feels diminished if something good happens to someone else, or someone has more, knows more, or can do more than you. The ego's identity depends on comparison and feeds on more . It will grasp at anything, If all fails , you can strenghten your ficticious sense of self through seeing yourself as more unfairly treated by life or more ill than someone else.

What are the stories , the fiction from which you derive your sense of self?

The Truth

The Truth is far more all - encompassing than the mind could ever comprehend. No thought can encapsulate the Truth. At best , it can point to it. For example , it can say " All things are intrinsically one" That is a pointer , not an explanation.Understanding these words means feeling deep within you the truth to which they point.

Beyond thinkinking mind

Artistic creation,sports,dance,teaching,counseling - mastery in any field of endeavor implies that the thinking mind is either no longer involved at all or at least is taking second place.A power and intelligence greater than you and yet one with you in essence takes over.There is no decision -making process anymore; spontaneous right action happens , and "you" are not doing it. Mastery of life is opposite of control.You become aligned with the greater consciousness. 'It' acts,speaks,does the works.

Spitritual awakening

Spiritual awakening is awakening from the dream of thought.

when you are immersed in compulsive thinking, you are avoiding what is.You don't want to be where you are. Here,Now.

still alertness

When you become aware of silence ,immediately there is that state of inner still alertness. You are present. You have steppedout of thousands of years of collective human conditioning.

Look ar a tree , a flower, a plant.Let your awareness rest upon it.How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being.Allow nature to teach you stillness.

Beyond the thinking mind

Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts.They never go beyond a narrow , mind made , personalised sense of self that is conditioned by the past.

In you , as in each human being , there is a dimension of consciousness far deeper than thought. It is the very essence of who you are .We may call it presence,awareness, the unconditioned consciousness.In the ancient teachings it is the Christ within or your Buddha nature.

Finding that dimension frees you and the world from the suffering you inflict on yourself and others when the mind made " little me"is all you know and runs your life.

Silence and stillness

When you look at a tree or a human being in stillness, who is looking? Something deeper than the person. Consciousness is looking at its creation.

Do you need more knowledge ? Is more information going to save the world, or faster computers, more scientific or intellectual analysis? Is it not wisdom that humanity needs most at this time?

But what is wisdom and where is it to be found? Wisdom comes with the ability to be still. Just look and just listen. No more is needed. Being still , looking and lostening activates the nonconceptual intelligence within you. Let stillness direct your words and actions.

STILLNESS SPEAKS

Is stillness just the absence of noise and content?No, it is intelligence itself - the underlying consciousnessout of which every form is born.And how could that be seperate from who you are?

The form that you think you are came out of that is being sustained by it.

It is the essence of of all galaxies and blades of grass; of all flowers , trees, birds and all other forms.